Data breaches in Australia showing no signs of abating

guest · Mar 2, 2020

Data breaches in Australia showing no signs of abating
March 2, 2020
https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252479402/Data-breaches-in-Australia-showing-no-signs-of-abating

The number of data breaches continues to grow in Australia, underscoring the need for local companies to shore up their cyber hygiene amid mounting cyber attacks.

According to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), 537 data breaches were reported between July and December 2019, a 19% increase over the first half of the year
Almost one in three breaches were linked to compromised login credentials, possibly through phishing attacks, which accounted for at least 15% of data breaches during the reporting period, the OAIC noted in its latest Notifiable data breaches (NDB) report.

Australian information commissioner and privacy commissioner Angelene Falk said: “The accidental emailing of personal information to the wrong recipient is the most common cause of human error data breaches.
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Lindsay Brown, LogMeIn’s vice-president of Asia-Pacific and Japan, said the first biannual update of the NDB scheme is evidence that passwords and credentials continue to be mismanaged in the workplace.

“Evidently, the threat to the digital landscape continues to worsen and organisations must be keenly aware of the importance of their employees using strong credentials. [...]"
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OAIC: Notifiable Data Breaches Report: July–December 2019

The Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme was established in February 2018 to improve consumer protection and drive better security standards for protecting personal information. It applies to agencies and organisations who are covered by the Privacy Act 1988 and are required to take reasonable steps to secure personal information.

This is the first statistical report on the NDB scheme to cover a six-month period.
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longshots · May 6, 2020

We all know the expression "money talks and ******** walks".
The Australian government has a less than sterling record in this area.
The latest example is just a few months old.

Australia exposed data for over 774,000 migrants
https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/australia-exposed-data-for-over-774-000-migrants.428513/

Lately they have been all over us, like ants at a picnic, to download and install their latest COVIDSafe tracking app, with the usual rhetoric of "Trust us - we're from the Government and we're here to help". They have spewed thousands of words on how secure the app is, how the "TLA's" are unable to access the information, and a seemingly endless barrage of nonsense.

Here's the latest article, of many, to hammer another nail into the cross.

The COVIDSafe Bill Doesn’t Go Far Enough To Protect Australian Privacy
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/05/...-go-far-enough-to-protect-australian-privacy/

Krusty · May 6, 2020

Also, #127, #142, #150.

longshots · May 7, 2020

Maaate, if you can't trust a septic tank who can you trust?

guest · May 12, 2020

Federal court launches snap investigation of its asylum seeker data breach
May 12, 2020
https://www.theguardian.com/austral...nvestigation-of-its-asylum-seeker-data-breach

The federal court has launched a snap investigation of how it potentially broke the law an estimated 400 times by revealing the names of asylum seekers on a public website.

John McMillan, a senior lawyer, former commonwealth ombudsman, privacy commissioner and inspector general of intelligence, is conducting a review into how the names of some of the most vulnerable people to come before the court were published on the commonwealth courts portal.
The court pulled down the portal, which is widely used by lawyers, journalists and the general public, in late March after the ABC revealed the data breach.
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Federal court data breach sees names of protection visa applicants made public

A spokesperson for the Federal Court described it as "major systemic failure"
Federal Court was warned of breach years ago
Two weeks ago, Mr Taylor also wrote to the Federal Attorney-General, Christian Porter, to warn him of the data breach, but he said he received no reply.

"Over a few years, I've been raising this issue with the courts on a case-by-case basis, with varying levels of success, but more recently I've been writing to the court in every case that I'm finding," Mr Taylor said.
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guest · May 15, 2020

Hackers target WA's major daily newspaper, putting data of subscribers at risk
May 13, 2020
https://www.theage.com.au/national/...a-of-subscribers-at-risk-20200513-p54sql.html

The personal details of subscribers to WA's major daily newspaper may have been compromised after the Seven West Media masthead was targeted by hackers.

In an email obtained by WAtoday sent to a number of subscribers, The West Australian said their subscription administration email had been accessed by an external party "in an unauthorised manner".
The hack occurred on March 23 but it wasn't brought to the attention of the masthead until April 21, when an investigation was launched.

"We can confirm that when West Australian Newspapers became aware of the intrusion, we promptly took steps to secure the mailbox to reduce any further risk of access being gained to your personal information, and have implemented additional security measures to reduce the risk of this kind of intrusion occurring again," the letter read.
The breach has been reported to the Australian Privacy Commissioner.
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guest · Nov 12, 2022

Repeat hacks highlight Australia's cyber flaws
By AFP - November 11, 2022

Inadequate privacy safeguards and the stockpiling of sensitive customer information have made Australia a lucrative target in the eyes of foreign hackers, cybersecurity experts told AFP following a series of major data breaches.
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Medibank, Australia's largest private health insurer, recently confirmed that hackers had accessed the data of 9.7 million current and former customers, including medical records related to drug abuse and pregnancy terminations.
Telecom company Optus fell prey to a data breach of similar scale in late September, during which the personal details of up to 9.8 million people were accessed.

Both incidents sit comfortably among the largest data breaches in Australian history.
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Australian National University cybersecurity expert Thomas Haines said many companies had been hoarding personal data that they should not have been hanging on to.

"There was a famous line for a while: Data is the new oil," he told AFP.
"If data is the new oil, then we're living the era of the weekly oil spill."

"At the moment the business incentives are basically along the lines of: Let's just keep a whole bunch of data."
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Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil conceded on Friday the country's cyber defences had not always been up to scratch.

University of Sydney data researcher Jane Andrew said one major flaw was that Australian companies were not always obliged to report data breaches.

"There are heaps of data breaches happening all the time that we don't hear anything about," she told AFP.
"Companies have been gathering data because it's seen to be valuable, without fully understanding the potential risks."
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guest · Nov 16, 2022

Australia to strengthen cyber offensive
SC Staff - November 15, 2022

The Register reports that recent significant cyberattacks against health insurer Medibank and telecommunications firm Optus have prompted Australia to bolster its cybercrime offensive, with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian counterpart of the National Security Agency, launching an operation that would target and disrupt cybercrime operations, particularly ransomware groups, targeting the country.

"This is not a model of policing, where we wait for a crime to be committed and then try to understand who it is and do something to the people who are responsible. We are offensively going to find these people, hunt them down and debilitate them before they can attack our country," said Australia's Minister for Home Affairs and Cybersecurity Clare O'Neil in an interview.
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